Go check out Alan Bedenkos lastest post...

[Save Us]

Hate to break it to you, but WNY is not the highest taxed area, nor is it located in the highest taxed state.

Wow, thanks I feel so much better! I'll try to remember this when quarterlies are due in June

[buffalopundit]

Nope.

"IDAs are direct handouts that are given only to a specific business" your words

"A sales-tax free zone would be open to everybody, subject only to geographical restrictions" your words.


The sales tax free zone would be to "specific" businesses in that zone. Same thing. Just a different way of handing it out. Either way it would still harm other local businesses. Harm is harm no matter how it is dished out.

There are practically no retail businesses in that zone, so it benefits only prospective businesses who would choose to locate there. The sales tax break wouldn't be a handout to the businesses, incidentally. If it's a handout to anyone, it's to the consumer. Like Duty Free shops, which I assume you suddenly oppose. The cost to government is foregoing the sales tax revenue on every sale - it's passive.

[WNYresident]

There are practically no retail businesses in that zone, so it benefits only prospective businesses who would choose to locate there. The sales tax break wouldn't be a handout to the businesses, incidentally. If it's a handout to anyone, it's to the consumer. Like Duty Free shops, which I assume you suddenly oppose. The cost to government is foregoing the sales tax revenue on every sale - it's passive.

Nope. Your wrong. It would harm any business within driving distance of each business that was given sale tax free sales.

I don't know anything about a duty free shop. I never been to one either.

[wnyerlaughs]

Because IDAs are direct handouts that are given only to a specific business. A sales-tax free zone would be open to everybody, subject only to geographical restrictions.

Actually, a correction, based on a technicality: IDA's aren't direct handouts. they are indirect. ITs is money taken from private sector, and redistributed by govt and quasi govt peeps.

when cuomo had up his huge powerpoint slides recently, a billion here,, a billor or so there...etc etc. WHERE do you think that $$ comes from to fund it all? It's redirected tax revenues, but it's also bond issues, that is, borrowed $$.

I know this is a bit off point but consider this: The same way that you and others said collins' business background was poorly suited to being a county Exec, the exact same thing applies to peeps like a cuomo, hoyt and IDA folks: all they know is bureacracy and politics, they know diddly squat of what it takes to have a viable private sector. You dont redirect $$ from the private market to IDA's to pick winners: govt using $$ is inevitably a less productive use of $$ than if the priv sectr ws employing the $$.

Generally, For any IDA success that can be cited, that same $$ wold have been more productive had it remained in the private sector in the first place. The difference is that the private sector companies don't go on TV and radio poundng their chest "give me credit, look what i have done" when their employee base grows ORGANICALLY. rediriecting $$ via IDA's is just job security for the IDA folks and other freinds of govt who actually think that it is THEY who are creating jobs. lesser informed peeps wacthing that on TV and newspaper then believe that its the govt that creates the jobs. No they don't Govt officials just like to say they are creating jobs...because they know that the lesser informed electorate isn't hearing "we create jobs" from other sources.

[buffalopundit]

Nope. Your wrong. It would harm any business within driving distance of each business that was given sale tax free sales.

Not necessarily. Would you go all the way downtown to save 8.75% on a purchase? Sometimes maybe, but not all the time.

I don't know anything about a duty free shop. I never been to one either.

Well, you live within driving distance of 6 of them, and each one of them offers sales-tax-free items for sale.

[WNYresident]

Are they located in erie county?

All the way downtown is not all that far away. And yes, people would go downtown to save 8.75% and harm other local businesses by doing so. A break is break. You can't have it both ways. If IDA's harm other local businesses so would giving someone a tax free status is just the same.

[Dougles]

If you were to cut the sales tax, how would you fund medicaid? What a higher tax on people who earn more than you?

[WNYresident]

When your sitting with Mark ask him if he knows what the term "Temporary" means. Maybe he can get the ball rolling to remove the 1% "temporary" sales tax we have.

[therising]

Forgive me for not following this entire girlie bitch fest thread, but where exactly is this proposed tax free zone of which you are all speaking?

[SafeWNY]

Not necessarily. Would you go all the way downtown to save 8.75% on a purchase? Sometimes maybe, but not all the time.



Well, you live within driving distance of 6 of them, and each one of them offers sales-tax-free items for sale.

People drive 15 miles out of their way to save 3 cents per gallon of gas. I think that they would drive downtown for the appearance of saving a few bucks.

[gorja]

Isn't one of the gripes about the local IDAs is that they give sales tax breaks to a company in their locality which ultimatley affects the sales tax revenues of all the Erie County towns? Wouldn't creating a City of Buffalo tax free zone have the same result?

[WNYresident]

Alan proposed as an idea a sale tax free zone in downtown buffalo on his blog to get retail business going.

http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/20...e-main-street/


Where does he come up with this stuff?

Although hundreds of thousands of people come into downtown from all parts of WNY every day, it’s a retail wasteland at all times. It’s doubtful that there’s very much that can be done at this point to reverse that.

Hundreds of thousands of people? 200,000? 300,000 everyday? Really Alan? is this true?

[WNYresident]

Isn't one of the gripes about the local IDAs is that they give sales tax breaks to a company in their locality which ultimatley affects the sales tax revenues of all the Erie County towns? Wouldn't creating a City of Buffalo tax free zone have the same result?

Yep. DOn't know why alan doesn't see it that way.

[buffalopundit]

Isn't one of the gripes about the local IDAs is that they give sales tax breaks to a company in their locality which ultimatley affects the sales tax revenues of all the Erie County towns? Wouldn't creating a City of Buffalo tax free zone have the same result?

Probably not. Because retailers in the tax-free zone would be employing people who would go out in the community and pay sales taxes on other purchases, property taxes on homes, etc.

[buffalopundit]

Alan proposed as an idea a sale tax free zone in downtown buffalo on his blog to get retail business going.

http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/20...e-main-street/


Where does he come up with this stuff?



Hundreds of thousands of people? 200,000? 300,000 everyday? Really Alan? is this true?

I don't know. Probably. If you factor in people who come to work, visit hospitals, go to court, attend concerts/shows and plug that in over 7 days, I don't think it's too crazy an estimate.

Maybe it's 20,000. You tell me. The point is, if you want to rebuild downtown into a bustling urban core like it once was (and many don't), then you need to set up the economic conditions to enable that to happen. Instead of giving handouts and incentives to businesses, give the incentive to the consumer. That creates demand, which private enterprise can then satisfy.